Automatic foul line keeper



' 'J. A. M' LAGAN ETAL Aug. 5, 1947.

AUTOMATIC FOUL LINE KEEPER I Original Filed April 2s, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 5, 1947.. J. A. LAGAN HAL 2,425,256 2 wwomnc 20m. LINE KEEPER Origingl Filed April 23, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTORS Patented Aug. 5, 1947 AUTOMATIC FOUL LINE KEEPER JamesA. MacLagan, Forest Park, and Thaddeus A. Walsh, Chicago, 11]., assignors to Pioneer Trust. 8; Savings Bank of Chicago, as trustee Original application April 23, 1941, Serial No. 389,976. Divided and this application August 25, 1945, her 23, 1940 The present invention relates generally to signaling devices and more particularly to foul detecting means for games and recreational contest, such as bowling, where a heavy composition ball or dielectric sphere is delivered across a foul line over which the player may not pass according to specified rules of the game.

The present invention is a divisional application of our application, Serial No. 389,976, filed April 23, 1941, for an Automatic foul line keeper which is a continuation-in-part of application Serial Number 293,022, filed September 1, 1939.

By way of example, the present invention is illustrated as an automatic bowling foul line keeper to indicate the commission of a foul whenever a player throwing a ball down the alley permits some part of his body, such as his foot, to move across the foul line in a way violating the rules of the game, which rules read to the effect that a foul is committed when the bowler permits any part of his foot, hand or arm to rest on, over, or extend beyond the foul line while any portion of that particular foot, hand or arm is in contact with the alley or the runway in front of the foul line.

In bowling, the main object of the game is to.

throw the ball with an underhand swing down an alley and so direct the ball that it will hit selected pins standing upon the opposite end of the alley. In doing this; although some players have peculiar individual ways of delivering the ball, practically without exception all players start well behind the foul line and as they swing the ball they take several steps forward to help impart to the ball the proper momentum. After these steps are taken, the player must come to a full stop before reaching the foul line so that in no way does the player contact the alley at or beyond the foul line in a way violating the rules.

In order to penalize a player for fouling, a referee is conventionally placed at the side of the alleys where he has a clear view of all foul lines in the league. Then, whenever, in his judgment, a player touches or unlawfully crosses a foul line, a signal, such as a bell, centrally located, is rung and a foul light manually and selectively turned on over the alley where the foul is deemed to have beencommitted. Arguments regarding the referee's exercise of proper judgment are minimized by seldom being questioned. However, many inequities are committed which arise from the human inability of the referee to watch a large number of alleys at the same time and detect every foul and make correct decisions instantly.

Serial No. 612,610. In Canada Decem- 10 Claims. ((1273-50) For instance, in view of the fact that the referee has to be located at an elevated position the referee is looking downwardly upon those alleys which are close to his station, and somewhat horizontally at the alleys remote from his station. Now and then the hand of a player, an elbow, shoulder or head extends over the foul line without violating the rules. Also, sometimes in catching body-balance a players foot or knee swings out over the foul line without unlawfully contacting the alley. The viewing angle at which these acts are noted by the referee is a source of error, such acts conveyin different impressions when viewed vertically, as distinguished from horizontally.

It is one of the purposes of the present invention to eliminate this source of error and insure the detection of any and all unlawful acts committed upon each and every alley without registering fouls for acts permitted by the rules.

Moreover, many times players in practicing for tournaments desire to bowlunder tournament conditions. Heretofore, this has been impossible without hiring a foul keeper at an additional expense to act as referee for one or a pair of alleys. This is seldom, if ever, done. Moreover, where several players wish to restrict each other against fouling to prevent arguments, the problem of detecting fouls properly without controversy has been unsolved. It is a purpose of the present invention to enable players at any time and at their option to bowl under tournament conditions. As a corollary to this advantage, the management may impose tournament conditions at any time it may choose to do so in order to detect alley abuse and penalize those players who are found to be fouling repeatedly.

Automatic foul line keepers have been experimented with heretofore but, generally speaking, they have been inadequate to take care of all contingencies that arise where the commission of a foul is subject to controversy. A player falling across the foul line, or stepping across the foul line, or touching the alley beyond the foul line with his hand, commits an obvious foul. This is detectable by the team captains or any player watching the game. In other cases, however, as where the player jerks his foot back quickly from a fouling position, an automatic foul line keeper is useless unless it is infallible with regard to all contingencies that arise where commission of fouls are other than obvious. We say useless,

I since in refereeing, poor judgment of a, human referee is better than a mechanical keeper which is inadequate or subject to failure.

. Some of the prior devices experimented wi signaled the foul when the ball passed over the foul line after being delivered in certain ways peculiar to some players. In other devices a system of trips were provided to permit thepassage of the ball before the system would detect a foul. In these instances, certain ball deliveries failed to trip the system and a foul could be committed without detection.

Another type of bowling foul line keeper experimented with is one dependent upon variations in speeds. Such, however, has had the difficulty that it fails in its reactanceleither with a slow ball bowler or a fast footed bowler. Either the detector registers a slow ball as a foul when set to catch a fast foot foul or fails to catch a fast foot foul when set to avoid actuation by a slow ball.

One of our own early automatic foul keepers included the use of a photo-electric cell located several feet down the alley beyond the foul line where the light beam served as a trip beam and was located high enough to catch the top of a properly delivered ball and the bottom of a ball lofted to a height extreme enough to prevent any accurate control of the ball. This beam controlled a. time relay. A second photo-electric cell controlling a second relay was located at the foul line. This particular construction is covered in the parent application.

The two relays operate in series, and with certain improvements discovered subsequent to our original experiments, the keeper has been sufficiently improved to render it thoroughly efi'ective under all bowling conditions. See our application Serial No. 448,468. Certain advantages and improvements discovered with our early devices have been incorporated in the present invention.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a foolproof automatic foul line keeper which embodies certain novel results and subcombinations of parts as shown and claimed herein, including those originated in our early developments, and those pertaining to the successful operation of the present invention and the several embodiments illustrated, described, and claimed herein.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic foul line keeper which is not efiected by or responsive to the movement of the ball, especially at the foul line, during the play of the game, yet is instantly responsive to a foul committed at the foul line or within a reasonable distance beyond the foul line.

Another object of the invention is to detect all fouls committed within four or five inches of the foul line regardless of how they are committed or the manner in which the ball is thrown.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic bowling foul line keeper which cannot be converted or perverted to a bowler's advantage, such as where he might be tempted to willfully register a foul if upon his first ball he left pins standing upon the alley which are extremely difficult or impossible to pick up with a second ball. Whenever a foul is registered all of the pins are returned to the alley and if a bowler were free to register a wilful foul he might be tempted to have all of the pins returned to the alley rather than take the impossible shot.

It is also the intention of the present invention to provide improved and pleasing foul signals for each pair of alleys distinguishable from one another so that as a matter of temporarily assumed habit, a player is not disturbed by a signaled foul on In Joining pair of alleys but $001.1. le r s li sound of the signal on his own alley and ignores all others.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic foul line keeper that may be installed on conventional alleys as an integral part thereof without changing the alley, its appearance and its finish beyond thefoul line so that players using various landmarks to assist them in directing the ball, as in "spot" bowling, are not confused and need not have a feeling of unfamiliarity with alleys upon which they are accustomed to bowl.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic bowling foul line keeper which to the extent that alleys have to be changed in appearance beyond the foul line, the alleys will be uniform, which, after the player has famillarized himself with one alley, causes no feeling of unfamiliarity in alleys equipped in a like manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide a distinct marking for alleys equipped with an automatic bowling foul line keeper of the nature described. v

A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic foul line keeper which can be easily tested at any time by team captains to dedetermine whether or not the foul keeper is in operation and in proper adjustment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved foul line keeper which is simple in construction, easy to install and maintain, either as original equipment or as equipment added after the alley is installed.

A further object of the invention is ,to provide an improved control circuit for multiple light beams detecting the presence or absence, in sequence or otherwise. of objects passing a predetermined point or spaced-points.

These being among the objects of the invention. other and further objects will become apparent from the drawings herein, the description relating thereto and the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken longitudinally of a bowling alley shown in segment, as equipped with one form of the invention, the principal features of which are shown diagrammatically; in which a player is prevented from registering a willful foul after conditions have arisen which would tempt him to do so;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the alley shown in Fig.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic showing of the electric circuits and controls used in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig 4 illustrates how the foul signals may be arranged for each pair of alleys;

Fig. 5 is a perspective of a bowling alley equipped with a modification.

Referring now to the drawings in furtherdetall. the foul lines on the several alleys illustrated are indicated by the numeral i0 and comprises either a painted black line or an ebony strip about one-half inch wide on the alley as disposed between the smooth unvarnished runway II and the finished and highly polished portion I! over which the ball, such as the ball indicated in broken lines i3. passes to reach the pins it that are set upon spots ii at the far end of the alley.

The type of foul line used with most alleys is an ebony strip'embedded in the alley. Throughout the several views it is preferred that an em-' bedded type of foul line be employed with the present invention. 7

As illustrated in Fig. 1, we prefer to use a photo-electric arrangement in which a source of light l8 has a beam |1 thereof directed longitu-' dinallyof the alley against a mirror, as at I8.

which reflects through a lens I! and a vertical cell operation in a two stage transformer coupled amplifier 21 in which therelay contacts 28 are controlled to close when the light to the photocell is removed. All the tubes 29 are preferably of the 2.5 volt hot filament type which provides slon of a foulat the foul line In is immediately detected and registered.

A photo-electric beam 40 located in front of the head pin 4| where it will not be interrupted by the pin spotter or rack (not shown) when the rack is'lowered-toward the alley to position the pins i4. The photo-electric circuit 34a controlled by the beam 40 is similar to the circuit 34 with the relay 42 thereof comprising a normally closed switch 43 in the signal relay circuit 31. In thisinstance, however, the relay 42 is a copper Jacketed relay which ha a delayed opening that can be set for a fraction of a second or more to allow for the time required for the ball to interrupt the light beam 48, strike the pins and thereafter reach the pit.

an edicient, low-cost circuit wherein a greater amplification per stage is also accomplished. This particular type is similar to the ordinary audio amplification used in radio and sounid picture amplification as controlled by a photocell input. The cathode of photoelectric cell 2| is grounded. The remaining elements of the embodiment are shown by conventional symbols and function in a well known manner.

Down the alley a short distance beyond the foul line In a standard 30 is erected upon the rail 38a which divides adjacent alleys and a inch beam 3| is projected across the alley where it catches a ball rolling down the alley as indicated at I3. The beam 3| is preferably located two to four feet down the alley where it will catch the bottom of the ball l3 if it happens to be lofted by the player as it leaves his hand.

A photo-electric cell operated by the beam 3| is indicated by the numeral 32 in Fig. 3 where it controls an amplifying circuit 33 as energized by the transformer 34 from the main'power lines 23 to actuate a normally open relay 35 which is preferably a copper Jacket relay closing instantly but having a five to eight second delay release. The switch '38 of the relay 35 is in series with the energizing coil of the relay so that with this particular construction the switch 28,is not opening and closing each time the light beam 28 is interrupted, but rather is only subject to closing when the light beam 20 is interrupted after the switch 36 of the relay 35 is closed. In this way there is very little wear or abrasion, if any, upon the relay 28 or contacts, and the life and adjustment of the device is greatly prolonged. Switch 29a may be provided where it will be closed if a player's foot slides into the rail.

Relay 28, when actuated by both photo-electric circuits being closed simultaneously, and switch 28a operate a time delay relay 3! which rings the gong 38 and illuminates a signal light 39.

With the device thus described when the player advances toward the foul line and releases the ball, the ball may interrupt or pass over the three inch beam 20 at the foul line, depending upon the height at which the ball is released. Either way, the relay 28 will not close. Then by the time the ball interrupts the beam 3|, a split second thereafter, the light beam 28 has had a chance to recover itself and the relay coil of the relay 28'remains open at the time that the ball interrupts the beam 3| to close the switch 38. Once the switch 36 is closed, however, it only remains for the light beam to be interrupted again for the foul signal to be sounded. Then any time during a period of five to eight seconds after the ball has passedthrough the beam 3| any commis- In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 5 we pre-. fer to use a photo-electric cell 44 containing two anodes 45 and two cathodes 48 disposed upon one side of the alley with a source of illumination 41 upon the opposite side. Two spaced parallel beams 48 and 49 are derived from the light by means of reflectors 58 and 5|1respectively, and these beams are collected and directed upon the respective elements of a photo-electric cell 44 by collectors 52 and 53, respectively.

Light beam 48 is located right at the foul line l8 and comprises a ray or beam of light /2 inch wide by two or three inches high, being otherwise similar to the light beam 20 described in connection with Fig. 1. The height of the beam of light may be varied from one to three inches depending upon the manner in which the lens l9, reflectors 58 and 5| and slits, such as l9a, are arranged, including the construction of suitable shutters (not shown) which might be used if desired. The lower edge of the beam 48 preferably is theoretically coincident with the surface of the alley.

Thelight beam 49 may be spaced from the foul I line in a direction towards the player, a distance as much as four inches, as spaced from the beam 48, depending upon the location of the reflector 5| and the collector 53. We, however, prefer to have the light beam 49 located within two inches of the foul line,-

Each pair of anode and cathode circuits contain photo-electric relays. The anode and cathode circuit responsive to the light'beam 49 contains a photo-electric relay 53a which has a slight closing time lag of less than a second on the relay switch 54 when the light beam is interrupted. The anode and cathode circuit, responsive to the light beam 48 located at the foul line i0, controls a. photo-electric relay 55 wherein the relay switch 55 closes. instantly when the light beam is interrupted and is preferably provided with a slight time delay for opening.

In view of the fact that the current generated in the photo-electric cells is rather slight, we prefer, in this embodiment, to connect the relay switches 54 and 56 in series with each other and in series with the low voltage battery 51 to operate a quick closing, retarded opening relay 58 whose switch 59 is in circuit with the house power lines 28, a foul light 39 and a single stroke chime bell 38 having a tone pitch which is difi'erent for each pair of alleys.

In this particular'embodiment of the foul line keeper two spaced parallel beams are employed in a new and novel manner to suit the styles and customs of all bowlers. It will be noted that when others in the house.

delivery as the player approaches the foul line.

while the player slows down as he slides forwardly and lets go of the ball. Also. it will be noted that very often the ball does notcontact the alley until it has passed beyond the foul line and practically without exception the'forward movement of the player is not stopped until after the ball has been started on its way over the foul line.

When the ball passes through the beams, 48 or 49, or overthem, it i traveling at its greatest speed at these points and passes through the beam with split second rapidity, whereas the for.-

ward sliding foot of the player coming to a stop moves into or through these beams with'a slowness well within the speed range of the photoelectric relays 53 and 55.

Thus, whether the ball clears the beams of light or passes through them the relays are not tripped simultaneously since the first relay has a time delay factor of a split second adjusted to clear the slowest moving ball to be thrown by a player. Furthermore, the fact that the two beams 48 and 49 are spaced slightly apart will also provide a slight delay factor assisting in clearing the ball without responding to'itspassage through the beams. On the other hand, it is very rare and practically impossible for a player to move his foot across the foul line without tripping the first relay as well as the foul line relay.

Of course it is possible for the player to straddle .the foul line and both of the beams, but in view of the fact that the position would have to be attained by the player falling forward upon his :hands or face, such a foul would be obvious to the team captains, it being one of the objects of the present invention to provide an automatic foul line keeper to take care of every situation where there might otherwise be a controversy and to leave the detection of an obvious foul,

which is not open to question, to the team captains.

This embodiment also actuates a single tone signal which, as has already been mentioned in the preliminary remarks, is preferably used for each pair. of alleys with the tone or chime of each.

signal different in pitch or quality from all the In providing this, we prefer, as shown in Fig. 4, to connect one lead of each light with the respective foul keepers and connect the other leads of the lights with one lead of the tone signal and the other lead of the tone signal to the source of electricity. In this way the tone signal sounds for either light without disturbing theother light. It is seldom that adjoining players deliver the ball at the same time so one signal is enough for both alleys and if .both foul, the present invention will signal both fouls properly and separately.

As more particularly disclosed in the parent application, capacity can be substituted for the beam 49, or the beam 49 can be a high beam spaced to come near to the center of the ball above the toes of a bowlers foot and connected with the other controls to lock out the effect of interrupting beam 48 to let the ball through without signalling a. foul. Moreover, with either of these devices the trip beam 3i can be employed if desired.

The height of the beam 20 preferably does not extend over three inches above the alley, two inches being adequate for most purposes. This takes care of those instances where the bowlers shoe has an upturned toe which would not contact the alley at the foul line even though it .might extend over the category as a hand swung outwardly across the foul line after the delivery of the ball. The height of the beam would assume the detection of any foot movement which, under the rules of the game, as applied at the present time, would be considered to be a foul.

In event the rules of the game are changed or construed differently, the beam i capable of being widened or narrowed accordingly within three inches, a range wide enough for all practlcal purposes since it is highly impractical that the beam takes care of any movement across the foul line above three inches. Very often a players hand will come that close to the alley without being deemed to have committed a technical foul. 1

Thus, an automatic bowling foul line keeper is provided which is not only pleasing in appearance but which reacts correctly and instantly to any infraction of rules uponthe facts of which there might otherwise be a controversy arising from perception or judgment, and players or the management may impose foul detection conditions anytime, at will.

Consequently, although certain embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that from the principles and suggestions contained herein various other and further changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

i. For use upon a bowling alley having a foul line, an areaway therebeyond for the passage of a bowling ball put into play, and having equipment used during the play of the game including a foul signal; means responsive to infractions of rules of play at the foul line, means responsive to the passage of a ball along the areaway when the ball is put into play, and means responsive to the passage of the ball for determining when the play of the ball is completed, said last two means coacting with one another to control operation of said equipment under predetermined conditions of play.

2. For use upon a bowling alley having a foul line, an areaway therebeyond for the passage of a bowling ball put into play, and having equipment used during the play of the game including a foul signal; the combination of means responsive to infractions of rules of play at the foul line, means responsive to the passage of a ball along the areaway when the ball is put into play, said responsive means acting cooperatively to control actuation of said equipment and means responsive to the passage of a ball near the end of its play for removing said equipment from the control of said responsive means under certain predetermined condition of play.

3. An automatic foul line keeper for a game device having a region provided for foot move- I the areaway and responsive to the passage of the playing piece past its point to prevent the signailing of a foul in relationship to the completion of play by the playing piece.

4. An automatic bowling foul line keeper for a bowling alley having a region provided for foot movement of a player upon one side of a foul line and an areaway upon the other side of the foul line over which a playin piece passes when put into play, said keeper including means for detecting infractions of the rules of play at the foul line, means cooperating with said first means to pass the playing piece across the foul line without calling a foul, means controlled by one of said means for signalling the commission of a foul, and means located upon the areaway responsive to the passage of the playing piece past its point to prevent the signalling of a foul after the play of the playing piece is completed.

5. An automatic bowling foul line keeper for a bowling alley having a region provided for foot movement of a player upon one side of a foul line and an areaway upon the other side of the foul line over which a bowling ball passes when put into play, said keeper including three photoelectric means spaced from each other, one of said means for detecting infractions of the rules of play at the foul line, a second means cooperative with said first means to pass the bowling ball across the foul line without callin a foul, means controlled by said first two means for signalling the commission of a foul, and the third of said means being located upon the areaway and repsonsive to the passage 01 the ball past its point to prevent the signalling of a foul.

6. In an automatic bowling foul line keeper for a bowling alley having a foul line, photo-electric means for detecting infractions of the rules of play at the foul line, photo-electric means responsive to the passage of a ball after the ball has travelled along the bowling alley a predetermined distance including a time delay, and normally inoperative signal means operated by said first means for identifying the alley upon which the infractions of the rules of play have taken place, said second means maintaining said signal means inoperative for a length of time after responding to the passage of the ball.

7. For use with a bowling alley having a foul line, a plurality of spaced devices located at predetermined points upon the alley, one of the de- 10 vices being an electron discharge device located at the foul line and responsive to the presence of an object within a predetermined distance above the foul line, another of said devices being responsive to a bowling ball passing its respective point, another of said devices being responsive to the passage of the bowling ball beyond the foul line a predetermined distance, signal means for registering a foul, and means controlled by said devices for actuating the signal means by the cooperation of the first two devices mentioned before the last mentioned device is actuated.

8. In a foul detecting and indicating system for bowling alleys, a normally inoperative foulsignal, narrow detecting zones extending across the alley, the first in the immediate vicinity of the foul line and the second in such spaced relation to the foul line and the first zone that a bowling ball rolled over the foul line will pass out of the first zone before entering the second zone, independent devices for detecting the presence of objects in said zones, and means under joint control of the two detectors for automatically preventing operation of the foul signal responsive to spaced successive detection by said detectors of objects in their respective zones in the order opposite to which a bowling ball will normally be rolled through said zones.

9. For use upon a bowling alley having a foul line, an areaway therebeyond for the passage of a bowling ball put into play, and equipment used during the play of the game including a foul signal; the combination of means responsive to infractions of rules of play at the foul line, means responsive to the passage of a ball along the areaway when the ball is put into play. and means for determining when the play of the ball is completed, said three means cooperating with one another to actuate said equipment under certain predetermined conditions of play.

i 10. In an automatic bowling foul line keeper for a bowling alley having a foul line, photoelectric means for detecting infractions of the rules of play at the foul line, and photo-electric means removing said first means from operation after a ball has travelled along the bowling alley a predetermined distance including a time delay, and signal means operated by said first means for identifying the alley upon which the infractions of the rules of play have taken place.-

' JAMES A. MACLAGAN.

'I'HADDEUS A. WALSH. 

